Hugh Bonneville, who stars as the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, has just
begun filming the second series of ITV’s popular period drama.

1:10PM GMT 07 Mar 2011

The 47-year-old actor described receiving the new scripts as “like unwrapping a Christmas present” and said that Julian Fellowes – the creator of the drama’s – writing was “as tight and brilliant as last time.”

Last autumn, the drama about the intertwined lives of the inhabitants of a grand country house, both above and below stairs, attracted 10 million viewers in the UK: you can refresh your memory of events by watching the clip above. A new series will begin on ITV this autumn, with the First World War looming.

“We’ve all been salivating to find out what happens next,” said Bonneville. “Well there was a big clue in the fact that I was fitted for an Army uniform the other day...”

He says that the response from the public to Downton has been unusual. “The reaction I get is ‘Thank you for Downton Abbey. Thank you for making my Sunday evening so important to me. And it’s rare that a show does that.

“I’ve never once been bored of being asked about it because what’s not to like? To be in something that I was incredibly proud of doing, with very high standards and production values – and then to see the reaction that it got and is now getting in America. It’s a once in a lifetime, once in a career, once in a decade feeling, to have so many people react in such a positive way.”

He added that Downton’s success proved that there was still “as rich an appetite (for costly drama) as there is for cheap TV” and that the show worked so well because of Fellowes’s pervasive influence.

"Julian’s (Fellowes) stamp is all over Downton and I think it sings through – there’s a unity of purpose. It’s not been built by committee. Fingers crossed but it can only do good for drama generally. It’s shown ITV that by investing in quality drama, setting very high standards and being pernickety about the detail, there’s a hunger for that. It shows that ambition is a good thing to have in drama.”